Missing scenes - Season 1
by Maevelynn
Summary: A collection of little snippets, in no particular order, centered on Maeve and Sinbad's relationship, with missing kisses and heart to hearts. Enjoy! Read and review! More will come as I dust them out of my computer! :)
1. The Ties That Bind

**The Ties That Bind**

Walking in front of Sinbad as they made their way to the tiller, Maeve suddenly staggered a little.

Swiftly, Sinbad grabbed her by the arm to stabilize her. "Easy, easy. You alright?" He asked, concern shining evidently in his sea-blue eyes.

Maeve blinked back a few times to shake off the dizziness. "Yeah, just…a little bit sore that's all." Her whole body was sore but at the moment, it was mostly the back of her head that was throbbing.

"Why don't you go down and rest. Call it a day," Sinbad offered, not really asking for her opinion on the matter but more like intently suggesting her to do so.

"No, I'm fine," Maeve replied, shrugging him off. She kept on walking, rubbing the back of her head carefully and hiding a wince.

But Sinbad saw it right away and insisted. "Maeve, you've been chained and gagged and dragged across the forest all day, it's-"

"Yeah, thanks to you..." Maeve muttered under her breath.

Sinbad froze on the spot with his jaw dropped, staring back at her in utter disbelief. "Are you still blaming this on me?"

Maeve let her hands fall down innocently. "What? Is it my fault if you have lousy timing?"

"Unbelievable…" Sinbad shook his head. His shoulders sank down in bewilderment as he looked at her, his annoyance growing by the minute. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to show some gratitude once in a while!"

"Forgive me if almost getting sacrificed to some hideous oversized gnome is not stirring my gratitude!" Maeve snapped back, irritated.

A few sailors close by gazed at them curiously, with that idiotic grin they always wore when they heard the couple bicker.

"I-" Sinbad started but caught himself. "We saved you, didn't we?" He stared at her with an astounded expression.

"Just barely!" Maeve exclaimed, growing more and more upset by the minute as well.

"But we did!" Sinbad firmly insisted. He was getting angry now. Whereas in other situations he would have restrained himself, this time he chose to let it all out. Everything he had been cumulating all day suddenly came blurting forward. "For crying out loud, woman! Is a simple "thank you" so much to ask for? No, you know what? Don't answer that. Seeing as _Eyolf_, who so gallantly stood up to protect you every step of the way while you were his prisoner, is the official grand hero in all of this, it's obvious _I'm_ not going to get any credit for running around through perilous brambles all day, going crazy because I had no idea whether you were still alive or if you were…being shred to pieces by some hideous oversized gnome!" Sinbad shot an angry dark glare in the other sailors' direction. "What are you looking at?"

Immediately, Maeve flinched. Grabbing him by the arm tightly she lead him down below deck. When the door was closed behind them and when they were out of sight, she hissed at him angrily. "Have you lost your mind? That was not the time or place for a jealousy fit!"

But Sinbad didn't care. He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. Sighing, he tried to get a grip on himself, letting his outburst of anger simmer down. "Look…If you want to consider Eyolf as your grand savior, fine, really, I don't care." He stepped away from her and walked over to the table to put some space between them before continuing, meeting her eyes. "But don't come out on me as if I didn't give a damn about your safety." He paused, his features suddenly growing serious. "Because I do."

Maeve looked at him, her heart suddenly hammering in her chest as she began to realize where this was now going. When she finally found her voice, she tried to sooth him down, letting her own frustration dissipate. "I know."

"Oh, really?" Sinbad instantly replied, and the gravity on his features caught Maeve by surprise. "Do you have any idea how scared I've been today?" He emphasized every word he said, meaning every single one of them and Maeve could see it on his face, in his eyes. "I was going mad, Maeve. With this voice inside my head that kept repeating I might never see you again…That I might be too late-"

"Stop." Maeve's voice caught in her throat. She stared at him, knowing he was dead serious but refusing to let him go on, because he was heading towards tricky topics that they usually avoided, and Maeve didn't want to go there. Not now.

Sensing he was about to cross a line he shouldn't be crossing, Sinbad silently obliged to her request, a heavy silence settling in between them. He lowered his eyes. He didn't know whether to be mad at her for interrupting him, or whether to be glad since he knew he was about to wander on a dangerous edge.

After a moment, he glanced up at her, deciding to drop the whole subject and relieve some of the tension in the room. "Next time you're being abducted, just…scream louder will you?"

Maeve's chest instantly unknotted at his words, the air properly filling her lungs again. She smiled at him, a thin-lipped smile that was genuine and thankful, but not without a little playfulness of her own. "What makes you think I screamed?"

Sinbad returned her smile, glad to see she was agreeing to settle back to a lighter mood. He walked back towards her to head back on deck. "Go to bed," he ordered her with his authoritative captain voice.

But Maeve grabbed him by the arm again. She didn't want their argument to end this way even if they had managed to find a way out of their silent issues. Their eyes locked. She leaned on him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

It caught Sinbad totally by surprise, his heart jolting, nearly jumping out of his chest.

For a moment her scent was the only thing he could smell, with her lips warm and light as they gently pressed against his cheek, at a spot very close to the corner of his mouth. She lingered there for a split of second, but just long enough to bust the limit of time permitted for a simple peck on the cheek. And during that endless little fraction of second, Sinbad was just about to explode, just about to turn his head to capture her lips with his own and pull her against him.

But then Maeve broke away. And it was too late. She locked eyes with him again, flushed, knowing pretty well how dangerous what she had just done truly was. "Thank you," she said, finally giving him all the credit he deserved for coming to her rescue that day.

Sinbad swallowed hard, looking into her dark brown irises, having trouble finding his voice. "You're welcome."

Letting go of his arm, quietly, Maeve disappeared around the corner and into the alley where her cabin was. Sinbad's eyes lingered on her retreating form.

When he heard the latch of her door closing, he let out a breath, taking a moment to gather his composure and his wits before heading back out on deck.


	2. Double Trouble

**Double Trouble**

"_You enjoyed kissing Rumina, didn't you?"_

"_Of course not. It was all in the line of duty."_

"_Oh come on. Why don't you just admit it?"_

"_I did not."_

"_Did too."_

"_Did not."_

"_Did too."_

As she sat at the table in the galley, alone with her magic books and the soft wavering light of a few candles and lanterns, Maeve replayed in her head the earlier scene where she had teased Sinbad about kissing Rumina. Smiling to herself, she had difficulty focusing on what she was reading.

Closing the current book in front of her, she replaced it with the others on one of the piles and grabbed for another, hoping its content would be better suited to take her mind off Sinbad.

She didn't hear the light footsteps coming in behind her.

"You enjoyed flirting with me, didn't you?"

Maeve started in surprise, twisting around in her seat to find Sinbad standing behind her with a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked, not sure if she had heard him correctly.

Sinbad casually sat down on the bench beside her at the table. "When Rumina was disguised as me and you came into the room, she flirted with you. You enjoyed it."

Unblinking, Maeve stared at him, at the cocky glint in his eyes threatening to corner her.

"Don't be ridiculous," she huffed at him as she returned her attention to the new book before her, her heartbeat suddenly quickening by the second.

"In fact," Sinbad continued, needling her with the matter probably as payback for the way she had teased him earlier. "If I recall correctly, you nearly kissed her—me."

As Maeve felt her cheeks go crimson, her mind went reeling, frantically searching for a way out of this. As she turned her head to him, finally meeting his gaze, she arched her brow with a smirk of her own. "Jealous?"

"No," Sinbad answered quietly, his raptor blue eyes riveted on her. "Actually, I'm curious. I didn't know I could have that effect on you."

"Oh please," Maeve rolled her eyes. "She was using magic on me, to hypnotize me."

"Really?" Sinbad mused calmly. "It seemed to me like she simply seized the occasion to gauge what is really going on between the two of us."

Maeve wondered if he was aware of the racing heartbeats thundering in her chest as she mightily tried to find something witty to say to shut him up. "Well, I guess she got her answer when I knocked you off your feet," she said, hoping to settle the whole matter and put an end to the teasing that was not at all funny anymore.

"Did she?" Sinbad asked, a serious edge lodged in his voice as he tilted his head to search her eyes. He seemed to want the teasing to stop just as much as she did.

Maeve met his gaze, candle light dancing in both their eyes and casting shadows on their faces. She searched his features in the warm golden hue, wondering what he wanted her to say, what he wanted to hear.

After a moment, swallowing hard, she averted her eyes back to the book in front of her. "I knew that wasn't you," she began, unsure what path she was threading on but feeling like she had to say something for his sake, and for hers too for that matter. "I knew that it couldn't be you and that something was wrong because you would never act that way with me, so bold and so unexpected."

She replayed the scene in her head, when he had grabbed her and held her to him, his face so close to hers, his lips nearly brushing against hers as her entire body had been completely overwhelmed by tingling sensations of warmth and desire. To think that it had been Rumina all this time made her sick to her stomach and angry beyond all possible limits, yet it also made her heart ache with longing.

"Still," Maeve admitted softly. "The reason it took me a while to react to the trickery is because…" She fought to keep her voice steady in the dead quiet of the galley. "…a part of me hoped that it was real. That it was you." Her eyes finally rose up to his, her heart racing like a wild thunderstorm, but she was unable to hold his gaze for more than a split of second.

Standing up abruptly, she gathered her books in a single pile and shrugged nervously. "It's late. We should get some sleep."

But Sinbad stood up immediately and pressed the pile of books down on the table, and before she knew it, he was kissing her. Pressing his lips passionately against hers, he cupped the side of her face with a hand and locked his other arm solidly around her waist to pull her against him. Shocked by the heated passion of his move, Maeve's body nonetheless replied on its own accord to his ardent embrace, her lips kissing him back with equal fervor as a wild fire blazed inside her chest. As their mouths danced together to the rhythm of wild drums that sent vibrations all the way down to her toes, on the edge of oblivion, Maeve forgot her own name.

Head spinning, she didn't know how long the kiss lasted but when it finally came to an end, they were both in a daze and completely breathless.

As they tried to catch their wind, panting hard, their eyes locked.

"I just wanted to know how it felt to be bold and unexpected, just for once," Sinbad said, winded, his blue eyes heavy with the passion still coursing through him.

Yanking them out of the magic of the moment, a loud crashing boom suddenly echoed from one of the alleys of cabins, followed by the dim sound of splintered wood thumping down on the floor.

Sinbad grabbed Maeve by the arm to steady her as the explosion slightly rocked the ship.

"I'm alright! Nothing to worry about! Everything is under control!" Firouz shouted reassuringly as he came staggering into the galley, a cloud of smoke puffing around him as he moved about to grab a skillet, some rope, a piece of soap and a banana. "I just need to make some adjustments!" With that, as quickly as he had come in, he rushed back to his cabin, smoke following after him.

Sinbad cleared his throat as he waved a hand in the air to dissipate the growing acrid smell of burnt wood. "I better go check on him," he coughed. His eyes then locked with hers, lingering on her through the screen of smoke hanging between them. "Good night."

Maeve held his gaze, her lips still tingling from the heated kiss they had just shared. "Good night."

As Doubar, Rongar and a few other sailors came rushing in to make sure the scientist hadn't blown a hole in the hull of the ship, Maeve stood frozen in place.

Amidst the growing confusion in the galley, a smile spread on her lips.


	3. Monument

**Wow, thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews! It really warms my heart to see that you enjoy my little scribbles! :D**

**MJDai: **Amen to everything you said. :) I think you and I have a very similar conception of M&S's relationship and how we think it would have evolved, one little moment after the other. And of course, half of those moments are bound to be interrupted by the crew! Haha! Oh and what Firouz does with the soap and the banana, I leave it to you! Haha!

**TiaKisu: **Thank you for your beautiful words, dear. :) I completely agree with you though, on cringing during the scene between Maeve and Rumina. Just like you, I don't think Maeve wants Sinbad to be that bold with her either, because they respect each other so much, but I do believe she wouldn't mind him taking the lead a little bit more in their relationship once in a while. That's what I really wanted to show by having Maeve admitt she would have loved it if it had been really him instead of Rumina. :)

**oO Tetisheri Oo: **Thanks so much, my friend! I'm so happy you enjoyed the scenes! And aye, it's a pity there weren't more of those little moments between them, but just like you said, that's what our imagination is for! :)

**Alright, that being said, here is another one of my doodles...I wouldn't exactly call this one a missing scene because as you'll see, I got carried away and it's quite long! It's more like an entire pan of the episode that I felt was missing...**

**Anyway, enjoy! :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Monument<strong>

After Jullaner's father perished beneath the earth, bringing his madness down with him, Sinbad thought their troubles were finally over. He was wrong. As it was, his heart was trashing in his ribcage and if he wasn't careful enough, the others would notice his hands were shaking.

"Here," Jullaner offered as she held the door for the crew as they slipped inside her decrepitated mansion once again.

The grand hall was dim and gloomy, darker than the black night settling in behind them. It was also dead silent and cold, with a chilling dampness that seeped right into Sinbad's bones and crept up his spine like the caress of death.

As he lead Maeve inside, his arm around her waist tightened its grip, as if he could somehow shield her from the cold and pour the warmth of his body into hers.

Everything was pitch-black around them except for the torch Firouz was carrying, its golden glow casting long shadows in the sinister house and outlining the edge of the stairs leading below.

When Sinbad paused to check on Maeve, she smiled weakly as if to cheer him up but he knew she was everything but alright. The knot in his chest twisted sharply with worry.

Stepping behind him, Doubar laid a strong hand on his shoulder.

"Rongar and I will get some firewood," he said with a tilt of his head towards the door, the silent look in his eyes betraying how worried he was as well.

Sinbad could only nod, unable to trust his voice. He was having trouble thinking clearly, his mind going wild with fear.

"Sinbad, this way," Firouz urgently called out to him, the warm flicker of the torch lighting the way to a room to the right.

Pulling Maeve tighter against him to relieve as much of her weight off her injured leg as possible, Sinbad carefully lead her where the scientist was pointing.

Inside the small room, he walked straight over to the bed. With a stifled wince, Maeve undraped her arm from his shoulder and sat down, stretching her injured leg in front of her.

When Jullanner lit an extra torch and placed it in an iron bracket on the wall opposite the one where Firouz hung his, Sinbad felt his heart skip a painful beat. Maeve was as pale as a ghost, her forehead slick with beads of sweat. Gently, he pressed the back of his hand to her cheek, feeling the heat of her skin burning through his. She was breathing more heavily too, as if she couldn't get enough wind inside her.

"I'm fine," she said firmly, but her voice was trembling and weary. "I just need to rest for a few moments."

Sinbad swallowed passed the dryness in his throat and crouched down in front of her. After removing her boots as gently as possible, he took her hand back into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Firouz needs to tend to your wound first," he said, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

Around them, Jullanner was already hurrying about the room to gather a bowl of fresh water and clean strips of bandages while Firouz rummaged through his satchel for herbs and balms, displaying everything on a nearby desk.

Amidst the urgency hovering in the room Sinbad locked eyes with Maeve, rubbing small circles over her knuckles with his thumb. He couldn't let his composure falter. He couldn't let her see how scared he was. He tried to smile but it wouldn't reach his eyes, and he instantly knew he was royally failing to comfort her when she gave his hand a squeeze instead and repeated "I'll be fine."

He should have been the one to tell her that. He should be the one telling her that everything would be alright. But the words stuck in his throat.

When Firouz urged him away from her, all he could do was grab the back of her head and press his lips to her forehead, lingering just long enough so she could draw all the energy she needed from his touch. Then he tore himself away from her and strode out of the room, the darkness of the grand hall hitting him like a slap in the face, the cold dampness crawling on his skin and making him shiver.

Running a shaky hand through his hair, he tried to get a grip on his heavy breathing, repeating to himself that she was going to be fine, that Firouz would fix her up in no time and that she would be back and kicking come tomorrow morning.

He flinched when a flame spurted to life in the vast hall below him, where Doubar and Rongar had just started a fire. Before they could spot his wavering countenance, Sinbad took a deep breath and trotted down the stairs to meet them.

"How is she?" Doubar asked, his voice thick with concern.

"They're tending to her wound," Sinbad replied, rubbing the tension at the back of his neck. He couldn't bring himself to say anything else, like how pale, how weak and how fragile she looked.

At a loss of words, plunged in a heavy silence, they all sat down around the fire and stared at the hissing flames. The wood cracked and popped as the heat consumed it slowly, making long shadows dance all around them.

Arms resting on his knees, eyes riveted on the burning flames, Sinbad couldn't tame the knotted fear twisting his insides. Why hadn't he stopped her? He kept replaying the scene in his head and all he could think about was how easily he could have just grabbed her arm and pulled her back and then none of this would be happening. She had been so close...But the snake had been faster. Striking her like lighting. And he could still see her falling.

It was driving him mad, his stomach coiling sickeningly while his chest felt compressed by a ton of rock. Glancing up at the closed door of the small room where Maeve was being tended to, he had to resist the urge to stand up and rush to her side to check on her. He told himself he had to trust Firouz. Surely it couldn't be that bad. It was just a snake bite.

On the verge of losing his mind, Sinbad began to count backwards from 1000, trying to calm himself down. He had just reached 876 when the door squeaked open on the upper floor and Firouz marched down the stairs, wiping his hands on a strip of bandage.

Sinbad was on his feet before he could even remember standing up, his heartbeat flaring up in his chest as he searched his friend's eyes for any clue about Maeve's condition.

Doubar and Rongar were up as well, worry plastered on their faces.

"Is she going to be alright?" Doubar asked when Firouz joined them by the fire.

The scientist hesitated, meeting Sinbad's gaze only too briefly. "I cleaned the bite and gave her something for the pain," he said shortly, as if searching for the right words.

"And?" Doubar pressed on again, eager to have it all out.

"She's got a fever," Firouz replied, eying them all pointedly.

Sinbad swallowed hard, his hands shaking at his sides as he voiced out the question that was on everyone's mind. "Poison?"

Firouz shook his head. "I don't know. It could be the wound just got infected but..." His voice trailed off, pausing for a moment. The fire crackled in the oppressing silence before he continued cautiously. "The snake looked like a spotted viper and its venom is one of the most poisonous there is."

Silence crashed down on them as if the sky had just tumbled down on earth.

Doubar blinked, his blue eyes shining in the golden flames. "But there's a cure, right?"

The physician shook his head again softly. "Not that I know of."

"Firouz, what are you saying?" Sinbad asked almost harshly. He could feel the blood throbbing in his head, his legs going numb with terror.

"If the fever is caused by the venom, I can wrap her wound with a few herbs that can delay the progression of the poison but that won't be enough," Firouz explained, pausing as he stared at the flames coiling and twisting before them. He seemed at a total loss, overwhelmed and defeated. When he spoke again, his voice was crushed. "The snake was gigantic, its venom probably ten times stronger than a normal one...She's not going to make it through the night."

Sinbad felt the ground below him shatter. It was like someone had just punched him in the stomach, driving the wind out of him. He couldn't breathe.

"But Jullanner says there are many potions and remedies in her father's laboratory," Firouz quickly added, but the optimism in his voice failed to lift Sinbad's spirit. "Since Malagia is crawling with snakes of all kinds, she says he tinkered a lot with cures and antidotes to heal poisonous bites. Maybe we can find something in his collection of experiments."

Sinbad struggled to register what was being said, his mind stuck on Firouz's previous words _She's not going to make it through the night_. His heart was thundering in his chest, muffling every other sound. He felt himself shake with dread.

He couldn't for the life of him figure out how he managed to walk over to Firouz, grab his shoulder and speak. "Get to it right away," he told the man, his mind in a haze of white hot fear.

Doubar nodded hurriedly. "Let's go."

When the three men disappeared behind the thick double doors to Mahmud Al Misri's laboratory, Sinbad stood in the grand hall, frozen in place, alone and scared out of his wits.

Glancing up at the half opened door of the small room where Maeve was, he struggled to calm himself down. When he walked over to the stairs, he felt like he was moving underwater. Everything seemed thicker around him, heavier, darker, surreal. Every move he made was met with a resistance he could barely overcome. His legs were so numb if he wasn't careful enough he knew he would collapse. It was like being drunk.

When he finally reached the door, his throat was dry and his head was throbbing. His hand shook as he pushed at the wood and poked his head inside the room.

Jullanner was standing by the desk, her hands busy with bandages while Maeve sat on the bed with her legs stretched out before her and her back resting against the head post, supported by a bunch of pillows for comfort. Her head was slightly tilted to the side and her eyes were closed.

Sinbad cleared his throat and stepped into the room. Jullanner turned around to face him but Maeve didn't move.

The young woman joined him by the door. "Apply some of this on her wound then wrap it up with these herbs," she said softly in her kind, mellow voice as she pressed a small bowl of thick ointment in his palm. "Firouz will need my help in my father's lab."

Sinbad nodded silently to her, unable to say anything at all, the words stuck behind the lump in his throat. To comfort him, Jullanner offered him a smile and squeezed his arm gently. Then she left the room and closed the door behind her.

In the oppressing silence and golden hue of the two torches, Sinbad's eyes traveled to Maeve's frail form on the bed. His heart broke at the sight of her. She looked so fragile. And so terribly pale.

Carefully, he walked over to the desk to retrieve the herbs and the bandages Jullanner had indicated, then he sat on the little chair by Maeve's side. His gaze immediately fell on the wound on her thigh: two red dots where the snake's fang had dug into her skin, surrounded by a red swollen area that seemed to be widening. Sinbad also noticed the little black streaks slithering under her skin, spreading outward from the bite like tiny veins stretching out to carry black blood, black poison.

When he looked at her pale features, her eyes fluttered open softly.

"Hey." Her voice was raspy and weak, but she forced herself to look tough.

"Hey," Sinbad smiled softly, brushing a strand of damp hair away from her face.

"Where's Firouz?" she asked, a frown creasing her brow.

Pressing the back of his hand to her cheek gently, Sinbad once again realized with dread how she was burning up with fever. "He's in Jullanner's father's lab, trying to find something to help make you better," he said reassuringly, his hands falling back to the bandages and the balm he had to apply to her wound.

"What is that for?" Maeve asked as he raked a finger in the small bowl to gather some of the ointment.

"To prevent infection," he lied, resting the heel of his palm on her skin as he gently dabbed the thick cream on the snake bite with his finger. He couldn't bring himself to tell her it was to delay the progression of the poison, and clenching his jaw, he had to suppress the sudden wave of anger that blazed inside his chest.

He should have stopped her. He never should have let her take on the stupid snake. He should have grabbed her arm to yank her back. He should have yelled at her to step away. He should have tackled her down before the snake could strike. So many things he should have done...He was the captain. He was supposed to see to the safety of his crew. He was supposed to protect them from harm.

He had failed today. And now Maeve was paying the price.

"It's poison, isn't it?" Maeve guessed, searching his eyes as if to dare him to lie to her again. Sinbad met her gaze, broken, and when he didn't reply, she huffed wearily. "Leave it to me to miss a gigantic snake standing right in front of me like an elephant in the middle of a market alley."

Sinbad blinked away, returning his concentration on her wound as determination colored his voice. "Jullanner's father worked on numerous cures for snake bites. Firouz will find something to heal you," he assured her, although never fully confirming anything about the poison.

"How long do I have if he doesn't?" Maeve asked pointedly, her words going right through him like an arrow with a barbed iron tip. Feeling choked, he couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"You're going to be fine, Maeve. Now, hold still," he said, trying to discard the subject as he put all his energy into the task of rubbing small circles on her wound so the ointment could seep into her skin effectively.

But Maeve grabbed his wrist to stop him. "How long?"

Sinbad locked eyes with her, her resolute expression crushing him. He swallowed hard, remembering Firouz's words down in the main room. "A couple of hours," he managed to say, and the sudden fear that flashed in her eyes ripped him apart.

"But you're not going to die," he immediately added as her gaze trailed away, her breathing quickening by the second. "Hey, look at me." Sinbad grabbed her hand. "Maeve, look at me." When she finally brought her eyes back to his, he could feel her trembling, and the knot returned to his throat but he forced the words out. "You're not going to die," he declared firmly, cupping the back of her neck tenderly with his other hand to keep her eyes anchored on him and only him. "Firouz will cure you in no time and you're going to be alright. I promise," he assured her as she hung on to his every word like a drowning victim. Then, unable to stop himself, he shifted his weight to the bed and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms solidly around her to shield her from the entire world.

Maeve surrendered to his embrace, trembling against him both from the effect of the poison and the fear, and after a few moments to control her breathing she managed to nod shakily, forcing herself to look strong and tough.

Sinbad pressed her knuckles to his lips softly and sent her the best smile he could put up. "Everything is going to be just fine. Come morning, you'll be as good as new," he repeated confidently. "Now, lie back. I need to wrap your leg."

Unable to return his smile Maeve sat back into the cushions, trying hard to keep her composure from wavering but Sinbad could see the twitch of her chin as she fought tears and his heart broke all over again. As he wrapped the bandages and the herbs around her thigh as delicately as he could not to hurt her, it took him all the self-control he could muster not to pull her into his arms again and never let her go.

When he was done with his task, Dermott flew into the room by the opened window and perched on the bed post at Maeve's feet, squawking softly. Maeve smiled weakly, glad for the hawk's comforting presence.

Standing up, Sinbad ruffled his feather gently and went to the desk to set the bowl of ointment down with all the other herbs. His hands twitched nervously as he felt totally helpless. He couldn't believe there was nothing else they could do to help her and that all their hopes lay with finding a miraculous antidote in Mahmud Al Misri's lab. He wanted to punch something.

"You don't have to stay here with me." Maeve's voice rang softly in the room, as if reading his thoughts.

Sinbad turned around to face her. "I'm not leaving you alone."

"I'm not alone," she replied, tilting her chin towards the worried hawk. "Dermott can watch over me." Sinbad was about to protest but she cut him off. "Go help the others. They need you."

Sinbad's fingers twitched at his sides, restless to do something productive to save her. Walking over to her, he pulled the covers over her legs and ruffled Dermott's feathers again, sighing in resignation. "If anything happens," he warned the hawk pointedly. "You come and get me right away." Dermott squawked and dipped his head, almost looking like he was nodding.

Sinbad turned to Maeve, torn between running off to find the cure to save her and staying by her side in case her condition worsened and she fell into a coma and never woke up again. Their eyes locked and she managed to offer him a small smile. Sinbad tried to return it.

"Try to get some sleep," he told her as he lowered himself to her level, cupping the side of her face gently in his palm, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

Maeve leaned into his touch and nodded. His gaze lingered on her pale features for a few seconds, drinking her in, and he had to muster all the strength he had to turn around and leave. The others needed him in the lab. The more of them there were to search the mess down there, to more chances they had of finding the cure.

But his will left him just as soon as he pulled the door opened.

He froze in the doorway, unable to move his feet any further. His heart raced in his chest like a wild horse, his breathing growing heavy and fast. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this scared. He couldn't leave her like this.

Sinbad turned around again. Strolling back to the bed like a mad man, he bent down to Maeve's level and claimed her lips with his.

The unexpected kiss earned him a surprised moan but she quickly gathered her senses and responded to him with equal fervor, raking her lips against his with the same burning passion that boiled in his heart, intertwined with a fear so raw it hurt.

It was a desperate kiss, a kiss that conveyed everything he couldn't say, that offered her all the strength she needed, a kiss that begged her to hang on no matter what. And Maeve drank from it, taking everything he was giving her as if he was her only source of life force.

Drowning in her touch, her warmth, her lips, her scent, Sinbad though he would explode, and before he could lose his mind he pulled away from her and walked out the room, unable to even look at her lest his composure faltered completely.

Leaving the door open behind him for Dermott, he quickly trotted down the stairs and headed straight for the double doors of the lab, trying hard to ignore the lingering tingles in his lips.

"Anything?" he asked hurriedly as soon as he found the others.

Firouz sighed in discouragement, a bunch of papers in his hands. "Not yet. Most of his experiments were destroyed when he became a giant and smashed everything around. I found bits and pieces of herbs and potions," he pointed to where Doubar and Rongar were stashing up pots, jars and bottles on a table. "But I have yet to find notes or journals or anything that might indicate the ingredients and recipe of an actual antidote." He waved the loose sheets in his hands, indicating they were nothing but useless scribbles.

Sinbad ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Keep looking."

"How was she?" Doubar inquired as Rongar handed him two delicate vials of green liquid to place on the table beside them.

"She was burning up, the poison spreading and darkening under her skin," Sinbad replied, trying hard not to let his growing distress show in front of his crewmembers. "Dermott's watching over her."

Firouz let out a desperate sigh again, his shoulders slumping down. "This doesn't look good, Sinbad." His voice sounded almost frantic, betraying that he was about to lose it completely, overwhelmed by it all. "Even with the five of us combined it will take hours to search his lab, and we don't even know if he found a real cure to the venom of a spotted viper. What if he didn't?"

Sinbad rounded on him. "Them you whip up one of your own! There's got to be hundreds of jars and pots in here! Surely you can-"

"Sinbad!" Firouz cut him off anxiously. "My knowledge in the field of venomous snakes is pretty limited. I might kill her if I don't use the right ingredients and proper ratios!"

"So what are you saying, Firouz, that we should just let her die?" Sinbad couldn't believe what he was hearing. His hands were shaking.

"Of course not, Little Brother," Doubar said calmly, but his eyes were nothing but reassuring, as if he knew there was nothing he could say to change the inevitable. "But if we don't find anything-"

"Don't," Sinbad stopped him firmly with a raised finger. He locked eyes with his brother, silently pleading him not to say what he feared most.

As everyone fell in a dead silence, Sinbad lowered his finger and wiped his hand across his face, struggling to get a grip on himself. "Please," he said after a moment. "Let's just keep looking."

Everyone nodded and went back to work, except for Jullanner. The blond woman touched his arm and offered him a smile. "We'll find something. I'm sure of it."

Sinbad suddenly felt horrible for the young girl. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "You just lost your father and now you have to deal with us..."

"You offered me your help when I needed it," she replied in her gentle voice. "Please, allow me to return the favor."

Sinbad thanked her for her kindness and walked over to his brother and Rongar, giving them a hand with all the jars and pots and bottles and vials while Jullanner joined Firouz to help him sort out a bunch of scattered documents.

An hour later, surrounded by a somewhat ordered mess of medical substances and piles of scientific scribbles, everyone's nerves were raw with worry and restlessness. Every second that passed by felt like endless hours and Sinbad was on the verge of losing it completely as he constantly kept throwing agitated looks towards the large double doors in case Dermott showed up to announce the worse.

He knew he should go check on Maeve to make sure she was alright and didn't need anything, but how could he look her in the eyes and tell her they still hadn't found anything to save her from the clutches of imminent death? It made his stomach churn. He felt sick.

"Put this one with the _Viperan Dolt Venom_ over there," Doubar indicated Rongar after reading the label on the small vial with a transparent liquid the Moor was showing him. "I think it's the same substance..._Viperan Dolt Sheep Serum_..."

"Of course! Brilliant!" Firouz suddenly exclaimed as he lifted his head from a leather bound journal, making Sinbad's heart jump in his chest.

"What is it?" Jullanner asked him with a frown as she leaned over his shoulder to glance down in the journal.

"Rongar!" Firouz quickly motioned with his hand. "Give me those vials! The two you just picked up!"

By the enlightened look on the scientist's face, Sinbad felt himself go numb with wild hope. "Firouz, what is it?" he repeated Jullaner's inquiry, urging his friend on.

Firouz turned to the young woman with unbounded excitement. "You father was a genius, my dear! A genius!" he exclaimed again, grabbing for the two vials Rongar handed him before continuing animatedly as he flipped through the pages of the journal he was holding. "He collected the venom of a spotted viper and administered small, non-lethal doses to a host animal, in this case a sheep, hyper-immunizing its immune system to produce a quantity of neutralizing antibodies in its blood, which he then purified to create an anti-venom!" he blurted out in amazement. "This could revolutionize the world of medicine!"

Sinbad blinked back perplexedly at his friend while Jullaner threw them all a puzzled look. "Did you understand what he just said?"

"Not at all," Doubar replied, shaking his head. "But that's usually a good thing."

Ignoring the comment, Firouz insistently held up the vial with the label that read _Viperan Dolt Sheep Serum_. "This can save Maeve!" he declared heatedly and Sinbad felt as if the weight of the world had just lifted from his shoulders, his fingers tingling with a sharp twinge of overwhelming hope.

But then Dermott suddenly flew into the laboratory and perched on the back of a chair, flapping his wings and squawking energetically.

Sinbad's blood went cold.

Terror seizing him, he felt the color drain from his face and in a flash, he rushed out of the room, the others following after him hurriedly.

As white hot fear blinded him, Sinbad climbed the stairs three by three and when he erupted into Maeve's room, panic threatening to overwhelm him, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her, lying with her eyes closed and barely breathing.

His heart leaped up in his throat, choking him.

When Firouz rushed past him with Jullanner, in a haze of terror, Sinbad thought the world had stopped spinning, as if everything was happening in slow motion before his eyes as he watched the duo set to work to give Maeve the anti-venom Mahmud Al Misri had created. Lost in a whirlwind of fear, he watched as the young woman expertly manipulated a thin tube with a needle that she inserted in the crook of Maeve's elbow while Firouz worked to connect the other end of the tube to the vial containing the cure.

As his chest heaved painfully with an overwhelming mix of dread and wild hope, Sinbad felt Doubar's strong grip on his arm steady him and gently tug him along out of the room to give Jullaner and the scientist some space as they tended to Maeve.

Unable to fight back his brother's pull, Sinbad let himself be guided outside and as his heart trashed uncontrollably in his ribcage, he kept repeating in his mind that everything would be alright, that they would save her, that they weren't too late, that in a few moments he would see her smile again and he would gaze into her beautiful brown eyes.

In the thick unbearable suspense and darkness in the hall, he waited outside the room with Doubar and Rongar for what seemed like an eternity, only glancing from afar at what was going on in the room, pacing restlessly until Firouz and Jullanner finally joined them again.

Hoping beyond hope, Sinbad rushed to their sides, searching their eyes and placing his entire sanity in what they would say next.

"I don't know how long it will take for the anti-venom to reach its full curing effect but she'll be alright," Firouz reassured them all with a worn out smile and a sigh.

Relief washed over Sinbad like a cleansing tidal wave as he let out a breath he didn't know he was painfully holding. He was so unbearably happy he thought he would faint right then and there. She was going to be alright. She was safe. It was over.

Doubar and Rongar sagged in relief beside him as well at the scientist's words, the tension of the nerve-racking previous hours slowly drifting away in the night.

To think that another hour or so and she could have been dead, gone forever...It was unimaginable. Just thinking about it hurt like a knife twisting inside Sinbad's heart, like salt rubbing on an open wound.

"Is she awake?" Doubar asked with gentle concern.

"Not yet," Firouz shook his head. "The venom took a lot out of her. We should let her sleep until she fully recovers."

Numb with joy, Sinbad stepped up to the scientist and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, my friend," he said heavily, his voice bearing the emotional weight of everything he had gone through in the past hours. He then threw a sincere look at Jullaner as well. "Both of you."

The young woman smiled back at him. "I'm glad to know my father's experiments won't all have destructive outcomes," she said softly. "They can help save people lives too."

Sinbad nodded back to her in agreement, resting a thankful hand on her shoulder before he brushed past her and Firouz to walk back into the room. He needed to see Maeve, to touch her, to be by her side when she woke up.

The others let him go and in the comforting silence of the room, he heard them close the door behind him gently, probably to give him his space and some privacy.

When Sinbad's eyes fell on Maeve, he was overwhelmed with such joy and relief he thought he would cry. Walking over to the bed, he sat down in the chair by her side and his hand found hers, reveling in the warmth of her skin, a skin that could have been cold if it hadn't been for the anti-venom saving her life.

Under the wavering torchlight, he watched her silently, mesmerized by her beauty and her strength as she slept peacefully. Her breathing was even now, regular and deep, and color was slowly seeping back into her face, her features taking their healthy glow again. It was a soothing, hypnotizing sight.

She was alive.

It was a miracle.

As he let his body slowly unwind from all the tension, he couldn't believe how much of a close call this had been. She could have died, the terrible notion making him shiver with cold dread. How could he have continued on without her? How could he have sailed away from Malagia without her by his side? It was unthinkable. He couldn't even begin to imagine what his life would be like if she wasn't in it. Her beautiful laugh, her contagious smile, her fiery eyes, her warm touch, her sweet lips...

As he rubbed small circles on the back of her hand softly with his thumb, watching her sleep like an angel, Sinbad realized how utterly exhausted he was, physically and emotionally drained. The terror that had driven him onward all night had completely worn him out.

But he didn't want to sleep. He wanted to be awake when she woke up.

... ... ...

Something stirred beside him, something that squeezed his hand softly.

His back hurting, probably because of the position he was in, Sinbad opened his eyes with a wince, the bright sunlight of morning blinding him as he realized he was leaning with an arm draped over the nightstand beside the bed.

He must have fallen asleep, he thought wearily as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye with one hand, the other still intertwined with Maeve's fingers by her side. When he realized it, his gaze travelled up to her and alertness shot in his body, his heart leaping in his chest.

As she stirred again and her eyes fluttered open tiredly, he leaned in closer, watching her beautiful face as it was framed by her red curls bathed in the warm sunlight.

When she saw him, her lips curved in a weary smile. "Am I still alive?" she whispered in a tired voice thick with sleep.

"Yes, you are," Sinbad replied, melting at the sight of her smile, one he had been terrified never to see again. "How are you feeling?"

She stirred again, stretching her limbs to chase the sleep away. "Surprisingly good," she said with a frown as he helped her to a sitting position, her body alive and strong as she turned to face him. "What happened? Did Firouz and Jullanner find an antidote in Mahmud Al Misri's lab?" she asked, checking her leg at the same time to assess her wound, which was well in the process of healing, the swollen redness almost gone.

"They did," Sinbad nodded softly, caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. "and not a moment too soon." He grew serious again, the shadow of the terror that had consumed him last night veiling his face a little as he met her eyes, his voice raw with a silent plea. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

In the bright light of morning, Maeve held his gaze for a long moment, searching his eyes silently as if to assess just how afraid, how terrified he had been to lose her. Squeezing his hand softly, a small thin-lipped smile spread on her lips and her hand reached up to touch his face, her fingers delicately caressing his cheek as if to brush away the nightmare he had lived. "Aye aye, Captain."

Swallowing hard, yet again overwhelmed by the sheer happiness of seeing her virbantly alive, Sinbad leaned in closer to pull her into his arms, transferring his weight on the bed to sit beside her and hold her close.

Burrying his face in her hair and the crook of her neck, he never wanted to let go.


End file.
